Chapter 559 – 559. Stairs in the Middle (2)
A passage and ‘stairway’ from the lower world to the divine world.
The secret passage connecting the two places is the only way and means for beings from the underworld to enter the divine realm.
However, that does not mean that everyone is given the right to enter the divine realm.
Even Eun-hyeon, who has the status of a half-god, is unable to enter the divine realm by herself, and can only enter through the power of Belldandi, a goddess belonging there, so in fact, it is as if there is no means of stepping into the divine realm from the underworld.
So, Eunhyeon chose this space as a place where Anies and the goddess Vesta could coexist.
This ‘stairway’, made with the prayers of Eleanor and Anies pouring out their enormous divinity, embodies Eleanor’s desire to ‘call upon the goddess’, who was the subject of the prayer, in form.
In a sense, it is similar to the ‘Kangsin’ used by the two priests.
And the two goddesses that appeared on these stairs were Belldandi and Vesta.
In the case of Belldandy, she is a goddess directly connected to Eunhyeon, and Vesta is the provider of divinity and the source of power used by Eleanor and Anyes.
Through the medium of three people, two closely related goddesses were able to escape from the constraints of the rules of interference and appear on these stairs, and it was an honor to have a direct audience with the goddess Vesta, which no one in the underworld has ever seen before. It was none other than the current saintess and the next saintess who came to enjoy this.
And what is happening in this glorious scene.
“Oh, why! Please let me touch you just once!”
“No way.”
It was a childish scuffle over the goddess’ breast.
[… Ha.]
“… Are you all right?”
Worried about Vesta, who sighed slightly, it was Eleanor who addressed her.
[Are you comforting me? Whoops. Thank you. But…]
Vesta, who showed a small smile as if she liked Eleanor’s consolation, let out a sigh again as she saw Anies, who somehow tried to reach out her hand to Verdandi, bypassing her Eunhyeon.
Seeing the scuffle between Anes and Eunhyeon, like her little child reaching for her toy, which she had only dreamed of, and her father desperately holding her back, made her feel dejected. I heard this full
[I’ve never thought of this before… I questioned my choice for choosing that child for the first time.]
Vesta sighs and covers her face with one of her hands, as if she is holding back her shame, as if her best friend and her son have caught on to her daughter’s idiocy.
“No. Agnes is a great person.”
Eleanor desperately defended Agnes.
She, who corresponds to her own seniority and is her saint, saved her continent and saved many people. Her achievements so far were only possible because she was her.
Eleanor respects her own senior priest, Anies Yersaleka, though she has a rough side that doesn’t match her youthful appearance or her outward appearance as a priest.
“You dude! I told you not to live happily in a flower garden alone… ! To lie on the bed surrounded by the breasts of the Goddess, Illyana, and Eleanor! Such an envious child!”
“What are you talking about!”
Eleanor’s face hardened slightly as she heard the ongoing scuffle, revealing an embarrassing look, but she tried to hide her agitation and said,
“Joe, you are a good person…”
As if watching her spear and shield fight, Eun-hyeon, desperately holding on to Anies by the scruff of her neck to restrain her, lamented her mistakes inside her.
‘I made a mistake.’
Focusing on creating this situation, he failed to consider Agnes’ tendency.
The reason she lives without ever getting married or starting a family is because of her divine blessing, her physical growth has stopped and her appearance is the same as that of a 15-year-old girl, but the decisive reason is her taste. Am.
Agnes herself, who had stopped growing and could not have an adult body, existed behind a strange preference for the same sex over the opposite sex, and a preference for a fleshy, glamorous style.
It was unavoidable, but before whether she was of the opposite sex or of the same sex, she wasn’t very interested in marriage, but as much as she was jealous of her mature body, Verdandi’s body was very attractive.
[Ah, child. It’s not necessarily worn out, but I don’t care…]
“I hate it.”
The attitude of Eun-hyeon, who speaks stubbornly from the strange side, is also very stubborn.
However, the fight between the two, which seemed like it would never end, came to an end in the end.
The two men, who felt a strong sense of exhaustion along with mental fatigue and went into a state of truce for a while, were able to proceed with the conversation only the day before yesterday.
“Sheesh… It would have been better if that person was our goddess…”
Agnies’s muttering, muttering in a small voice, was close to blasphemy, full of her impiety, and it certainly reached Vesta’s ears.
[Be quiet.]
As if admonishing her own daughter, Anies put her honey chestnut on her head and looked at Eunhyeon and Belldandi as she let out a small sigh.
[Sorry. My child is a bit immature.]
“… No. I understand. Even if you say that, please don’t hate me too much.”
[… How could that be? Okay.]
Vesta gave her little wry smile and just nodded her head.
Her attitude towards herself is terribly disrespectful and lighthearted, but should I say that I have a bad feeling for her.
Perhaps because she knew how hard she had worked to fulfill the mission she had given her, even though she hated her, she didn’t hate her and Anies anymore.
Vesta looked at Eunhyun again and resumed her story.
[So? What does she want to talk about by calling me?]
“The reason I prepared this opportunity here is because I wanted to hear something from Anies and Vesta.”
“… Story?”
[Hmm?]
The two, who had no idea what they were talking about, waited for Eunhyeon to continue speaking with questionable expressions on their faces.
“You know ‘Marius Horton’?”
“… !”
Agies trembled at Eun-hyeon’s straight-forward question.
This is because it is a name known only to the upper echelons, which is currently taboo to even mention inside the temple.
[…]
Perhaps because the name came out unexpectedly, Vesta also couldn’t make a good expression, narrowing her eyebrows.
“A few years ago, you must know that necromancers appeared in the kingdom.”
Anies nodded his head with a hard face.
And the fact that the necromancer was none other than Marius Holton, and that he had been a priest of the Temple of Vesta, the state religion of the Holy Kingdom of Erenia.
Eun-hyeon found out the origin of Marius by interrogating the bandits he had captured when he raided villages where civilians lived and threatened the kingdom of Pernias with bandits.
However, even though he knew this fact in advance, he did not disclose it to the outside world.
If known, the Kingdom of Pernias, which suffered direct damage, could have held the sacred nation of Erenia responsible in some form, and that would have been a legitimate procedure.
Furthermore, this problem, which can be the seed of conflict and discord, is a problem that cannot be easily dealt with.
In particular, with the destruction of the kingdom of Rendir, great chaos was approaching throughout the continent, so he had to be careful.
“… Okay.”
Of course, in the sacred kingdom of Erenia and the Temple of Vesta, it was a very uncomfortable issue that Marius was from his side, but Agies faced Eunhyeon with a determined gaze as if he had come.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything the Temple knows about Marius Horton. And…”
Before long, he gazed at the goddess Vesta and continued her words.
“Why did a priest who handles divine power become the worst necromancer who commands the dead? I want everyone to talk.”
In a way, this would include the misjudgment of the goddess Vesta, who provides divine power to all the priests on the continent.
Emphasizing the rule not to interfere with the underworld, Divine power was diluted with a lower power called Divine power and gave grace to the humans of the continent for use, but rather ironic that one of the priests who received the grace turned into a disaster. Situation.
Perhaps even among other gods, the goddess Vesta had a bitter expression on her face as if she had a history of receiving much reprimand for this judgment.
However, the reason why Eunhyeon asked not only Agnes, but also the goddess Vesta about Marius was not to find out who was wrong and to hold her accountable.
He only prepared this place because he needed to hear his story in order to deal with the crippled enemy he had to kill, using Mediah’s necromantic magic, and had no other intentions.
“Ha… Zenjaang…”
It was really annoying to have to put a story that was no different from the shame of the temple into his own mouth, so a sigh and annoyance came out naturally.
‘Well, is it fortunate that these two are still together?’
It was at least a small comfort and relief that he would only tell Eunhyeon and Eleanor this story, rather than revealing his shame in front of many people.
Besides, there was no risk of anyone overhearing here, so I was able to focus on the story without needless vigilance.
“According to reports, the man named Marius… He belonged to a small temple on the outskirts, and he was the lowest-ranking priest who had been appointed for less than a year.”
Agies narrowed his brows and started talking about Marius Holton.
◆ ◆ ◆
In fact, Marius was not a faithful priest who believed in Vesta, the goddess he worshiped.
His birthplace was unknown, and he did not know the faces of his parents, and he grew up with other children of the same age in a nursery school located in a small village on the outskirts.
He spent time at the orphanage, grew up and became an adult, and at a late age, divine energy suddenly began to flow from his body.
Originally, the condition for using divine power itself did not exist.
Among humans, people who can use divine power began to appear without any omens or commonality, and those who have their abilities verified are all educated in the temple, and the general trend is that they acquire an honorable position belonging to the temple, such as a priest or a paladin. And procedure
“This is your chance!”
Marius cheered.
If the ability of this divine power is recognized and he completes his education at the temple, he will be able to obtain the status of a priest.
“This will make life at our nursery school a little better!”
In his mind, the only thought that existed was to support the family at the orphanage, who lived day by day, rather than the honor and position he would gain from becoming a temple priest.
Of course, the salary paid to the lowest-ranking temple priests who had just finished their education wouldn’t have been that high, but having a steady income was a positive factor for Marius and the orphanage.
“Great! I’m so glad! Marius!”
Ness, a woman of the same age as Marius, delighted in Marius’ divine power more than anyone else and celebrated it.
“But don’t work too hard for us. I have no intention of relying on you alone. We can keep this orphanage as we find our way.”
In addition to Ness, in this small remote village, people from the orphanage, such as Marius and Ness, took their place as the main members of the village, seeking their own way to live.
It was difficult, but all of them, who had become adults, were contributing a lot to the maintenance of the nursery school where they ate and slept.
And at the center of them, the woman working hard to run the orphanage was Ness.
Everyone from the orphanage did not hesitate to support Ness, who spent time bringing in children and newborns abandoned from outside due to starvation or conflict, feeding, dressing, putting them to sleep, and raising them.
Ness’ congratulations and encouragement from Ness, who sometimes leads like her older sister and does her will like her younger brother, was a great source of encouragement for Marius as well.
“Oh! Marius! I heard you can use divine power!?”
“If you succeed in life later, you must not forget our village!”
“Haha! It can’t be!”
Not only that, laughter bloomed at the jokes mixed with the residents of the village who were not from the orphanage.
Even though they are not related by blood, even though they don’t even know where their parents were born, the nursery school where they grew up and the residents of this small village on the outskirts were all Marius’ brothers, children, and parents.
Just in time, he sent a letter to a merchant who visited the village explaining his circumstances that he was able to use divine power at a nearby temple after paying a certain price.
About two weeks after the merchant with the letter leaves.
“Marius!”
After her fuss, Ness found Marius working in her field and told him the good news of her.
“A priest from the temple has arrived! He said he was a high-ranking priest named Bishop!”
